Recipes, Old & New

Diving at The Dump

Why would anyone name their business “The Dump”? I thought it was because it was clever and attention getting. I never dreamed they named it that because it was the TRUTH!

In case you are not familiar with “The Dump”, it is a furniture clearance warehouse. Not sure where they originated, but I recently got ‘dumped’ in Phoenix.

Here’s my Dumpster Diving story:

I recently purchased a new home in the Phoenix area. I needed new furniture. I went to all the local name brand furniture stores, but kept hearing and seeing all these intriguing ads for a new store in town………….”The Dump”. So one day I decided to check it out. BTW they are only open on Fri, Sat, and Sun. I read some online reviews that were all less than favorable, but still I had to see it for myself.

Well,, basically, it is a DUMP. But fortunately (or unfortunately) I found a dining room set that was exactly what I was looking for. It was fairly priced and is decent quality for the price. So I bought it. The salesman was nice and helpful. I paid and scheduled delivery.

The table was delivered on time, the delivery man was courteous and careful. As he was leaving, I noticed a fairly large chip out of the leg of one chair. I called it to his attention.

He dialed customer service for me and I talked to ‘Susie’ (all names have been changed) and she asked it I could email a photo of the damage for the technicians to look at.

“Sure, I can do it right now, but I don’t think it can be fixed”, I said. I took photos and emailed them.

Well ,a couple of days go by and no response from ‘Susie’.

I email and ask if she got the pictures……………no reply.

Finally I call her and she said she had not received the pictures, that seems strange, but I resend them.

Few more days go by and still no reply from ‘Susie’, so I call again.

After some prodding, she admits that she received the emails, but there were no pictures, only red x’s.

O.K. My first thought was to tell her to contact her IT people, but by now I realize that maybe ‘Susie’ is not the best diver at the dump, so I resend the pictures as attachments and not in the text of the email. This time she actually lets me know that she has received the pictures and has forwarded them to the technicians and she will get back to me.

A few more days go by and no response from ‘Susie’. Again I call her. “Oh, yes, the technician can repair that, but they didn’t tell me when they could do it. What days work for you?” I give her 3 dates that will work for me.

So the first 2 dates pass by and no word from our little ‘Susie’. So again, I call. Now I talk to ‘Edith’. She talks to ‘Susie’ who tells her that she never received the photos!

ARRRGGGGGHHHH. Take 2 DEEP BREATHS, IN & OUT!

Finally after a very frustrating conversation with ‘Edith’ and being put on hold forever she comes on the line and says “Oh, she found them and we need to schedule a technician to fix the chair.” At this point ‘Edith’ is very apologetic and the epitome of what a C.S. Rep should be. So she gives me a work order number and the phone number of the repair company. She assures me that they will call within 72 hours and schedule an appt, but if they don’t I should call them.

I hang up the phone, feeling pretty confident that this is going to work out after all.

72 hours pass and I don’t hear a thing from the repair company, which is a completely different company. So I dig out the number that ‘Edith’ gave me and call. Surprise! They have no work order for me.

So it’s back to The Dump. I call and explain my situation to ‘Linda’, who says she will resubmit the work order.

The next day I get a call from the repair service and we schedule an appointment time.

They arrive on schedule and cannot fix the leg. It needs to be replaced. (Told ya so!) They will mail a new leg and when it arrives, I am to call them and schedule a time for them to come and complete the repair. I’m just hoping to have the new chair by Thanksgiving!

A few days later they call and tell me that they are replacing the chair and schedule a date for the exchange. No explanation why the change of plans, but I wasn’t sure how they were going to change just one leg and this made much more sense. We set up the exchange for the following Tuesday.

Then the next day I get a call from someone at The Dump that tells me that they will even exchange my chair, I just need to bring it in. I tell him that I had a call yesterday and a new chair is being delivered on Tuesday. He says there is no record of that and I must come in and exchange it myself. He is very insistent. I tell him there is no way I am going to bring the chair in. I will wait until Tuesday and see what happens.

And believe it or not, a new chair showed up today!

But The Dump is still a dump and I would not recommend anyone to shop there.